South Sudan forces some fleeing fighting to pay bribes: UN

JUBA, South Sudan – The United Nations says some people fleeing South Sudan into Uganda are forced to pay bribes at checkpoints run by South Sudan's government and armed groups. It also says it has received reports of physical and sexual assaults and forced family separations.

More than 100,000 South Sudanese have fled to Uganda after deadly fighting rocked the capital, Juba, in July.

A spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency, Rocco Nuri, calls the reports of refugees being forced to pay bribes to reach safety "disturbing."

The United Nations last week announced that over one million South Sudanese have fled the country since a civil war began in December 2013. A peace deal signed in August 2015 has not stopped the fighting.